Everything you need to know about having a ring warming ceremony

Having a ring warming ceremony is a wonderful way to include your guests and allow them to actively participate in your wedding day. It will also add even more meaning to the rings that you and your spouse will wear every day. Here’s what it’s all about:

What is a ring warming ceremony?

A ring warming ceremony gives wedding guests an opportunity to hold your wedding bands and wish you good luck for your marriage. Each guest will, briefly, hold your rings either before or during your ceremony and take a moment to bestow their blessings upon them.

It is a meaningful way to involve all your guests in the ceremony and makes your wedding bands so much more significant knowing that you are wearing everyone’s blessings on your finger!

How do they work?

Ring warming ceremonies work in one of two ways. In the first, the rings are passed from guest to guest during the ceremony, receiving well wishes and blessings along the way. They are then returned to the bride and the groom who exchange them as a symbol of their love.

As an alternative, you can set up a table at the entrance of your ceremony venue giving your guests an opportunity to ‘warm’ the rings as they walk in. This works well especially for larger weddings of over 100 guests. This is always a good place to set up your guest book!

Who takes part in a ring warming ceremony?

This is completely up to the bride and the groom! In some cases all the guests will take part and other cases a select number of guests will participate. If for instance you’d only like your closest friends and family members involved, then reserve the first two rows of seating for those who will be warming your rings and have them passed around there.

Allocate a ring chaperone

It’s important to allocate a ring chaperone to keep track of the rings. Once the rings are warmed, they do of course need to make it safely to the ring fingers of the bride and the groom! A ring chaperone will help make sure everything runs smoothly during the ceremony, picking it up, should it fall – and ensuring it makes it to the top of the aisle in one piece.

Things to remember

This ceremony is not just an opportunity for friends to take a closer look at your wedding bands, but one that should be respected. Remember, many of your guests will not understand what a ring warming ceremony is, so make sure they are informed! You might want to include a slip of paper in your wedding invitation explaining the process or have the MC say a few words about how it works.

Timing is everything when it comes to a ring warming ceremony. If you have a larger wedding of more than 100 guests, having your wedding bands passed around will naturally take some time. Be sure to time your ring warming so that when it is time to exchange rings, the best man has them in his hands and the couple don’t have to wait for it to arrive. It also means everyone will have time to truly bestow their love and blessings on your precious wedding rings.

Some ring warming wording

Your MC should say some nice words to introduce the ring warming ceremony. Here is an example:

Now we would like to invite the wedding guests to pass the wedding rings between each other and warm them with their wishes, prayers, and blessings for XX and XX. As this happens I ask everyone to say a silent wish or prayer for this couple, their marriage and for their future together.